Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist and playwright. He
was a leading figure in English-language Modernist poetry
where he reinvigorated the art through the use of language,
writing style, and verse structure. He is also noted for his
critical essays, which often re-evaluated long-held cultural
beliefs.

Eliot died of emphysema at his home in Kensington in London
at age 76 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were taken to St Michael
and All Angels’ Church, East Coker, the village in Somerset from
which his Eliot ancestors had emigrated to America.

A wall plaque in the church commemorates him with a quotation
from his poem East Coker: "In my beginning is my end. In my
end is my beginning."